The Collective
by RanulfFlambard4
Summary: A collection of short stories written within a week of picking two character names out of a hat. Join a different two characters every chapter as they go on adventures, get in to trouble and generally have a good time with the people you might not expect. Done in collaboration with a friend, not always canon with the lore, but the stories will be canon to each other.
1. Fair Play (Genji and Mcree)

The rides played happy little tunes as they spun round and round, children squealed and ran around, kicking up a load of dust as they ran past a man, his hat over his eyes and his cloak lightly floating in the breeze, his hand was resting on the top of his pistol, as if he was ready to draw at any moment.

But he was waiting... for someone.

People passed him by paying little to no attention.

There was no sound as the young man landed behind him, but McCree sensed him. Whirling round he pointed his gun at the man, but no before the man had his dragon blade to his stomach.

"You're late." The first man said in a strong Texan accent.

"I am not late." The other replied with a Japanese lilt, "You were simply early."

The Texan tilted his hat and smiled, blowing out smoke from his cigar. "All right Genji, we'd best get goin'."

The two stepped apart and put their weapons away. They were both smiling snidely at each other, but the mask over the man named Genji's face made it difficult to tell.

"McCree..." Genji looked at the man, "Why did you want to come here?" Genji glanced round at all the fairground rides, the carousel, the stalls of food, the huge bouncy slide... why?

McCree chuckled, "You'll see..."

The two made an odd pair wandering through the fair ground as the sun slowly sank, the fairground lights swirling and spinning.

"Are we... going anywhere in particular or..." Suddenly an arm shot out across Genji's face.

"We're here." McCree allowed a small smile to creep across his face.

"...OK." Genji glanced around, "Like... the hook a duck? Or the..."

"The haunted house." McCree shot him a grin, "Brave enough to go in?"

"Oh!" Genji put his hands on his hips to express his delight, due to the fact he couldn't express it with masked face. "I am ready!"

"Good." McCree swept his cloak behind him as the pair made their way to the queue.

A lady let the first few people in the queue in but looked up. "Um... excuse me sir." She held her hand up to McCree, "No smoking on the rides."

"Oh..." He sighed, "But this ol' cigar's still got some way to go... could ya hold it for me while I..."

"No sir."

"Hmmm." He sighed. "Can't be helped." He dropped his cigar to the ground and let it smoulder for a second before stamping it out. "Now can I go in?"

"Sir, are you carrying a weapon?" The lady glanced down at his belt.

"Er... this... is just a... Genji wadda they called? A watsit, y'know..."

"A toy gun!" Genji proclaimed proudly.

McCree looked at him, then to the lady, "Yeah... that."

"Sir I feel like that's a real gun."

"It's just my lil' toy!"

"Sir, hand over the weapon."

"You're making me hand over my gun when you can see the guy next to me is wearing a full suit of armour and covering his whole face what's even going on?!"

"Just..." The lady composed herself, "Hand over the gun sir."

McCree sighed. "Fine." He slammed the gun down on the table in front of him and glared at the woman, "Anything else?"

"Yes." She smiled sweetly, "That's $3 each to ride."

"$3?!" McCree spluttered, "I ain't got that, this ride is like..."

"McCree!" Genji laid a hand on his shoulder, "I shall pay!"

McCree glanced at the lady and snorted, "Ok then..."

As Genji handed over the money the lady continued to eye McCree suspiciously, "All right Sirs... you can go in."

The two made their way in to the Haunted house attraction; Ghosts hung above their heads as they walked in.

"Do you er... wanna go first?" McCree gestured forward.

"Of course!" Genji sounded enthusiastic, "I am not afraid!"

"I mean... neither am I..." McCree grunted uncomfortably, "Let's go..."

About 10 seconds down the hall, McCree felt something furry tickle his nose and he let out a huge yelp, "SOMETHIN' GOT ME!"

"It's all right!" Genji grabbed him, "It's a toy spider!"

"How... how d'you know?"

"I have night vision in my mask!" He looked around, "It's really not that scary in here, just some stuff hanging from the ceiling."

McCree let out a huge sigh, "That's cheatin'!"

"You didn't say..."

"Just... carry on." McCree pushed his friend forward.

They continued down the dark passages, with flashing ghost lights occasionally jumping up and spooky sound effects making McCree jump left right and centre.

"I don't like this!"

"It's fine!" Genji patted his back, "Look! There's some carts we go on from here!"

Sure enough, in front of them was a little cart, part of the ghost train.

"Do you think what we're looking for will be in here?"

McCree frowned, "Lookin' for? How'd ya mean?"

"You said I would find out soon enough. You know. Why we're here?"

"Ohhhh..." McCree shuffled awkwardly, "Er, yeah. For sure."

They stepped into the cart and glanced at the man operating that part of the ride.

"Keep your arms and legs inside the car do not get up for any reason and..." The lad sighed, "Have a spook-tacular time..."

The cart set off with a jolt, forcing McCree to grab on to his hat, "Gave er... gave me a start!"

"So I see!" Genji nodded kindly.

"Turn your damn night vision off, why in tarnation can't you have a good time?"

"Because... we're here to catch someone, right? I need to be able to..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAH" McCree leapt on to Genji's lap, "WHAT'S THAT!?"

"That's a mechanical coffin..."

"Oh right... I knew that." He pushed himself off Genji somewhat offended, "Turn it off!"

"Why!?"

"Because I want you to be as scared as I am!"

There was a pause.

"You're... scared?" Genji sounded somewhat amused, "Of this kids' attraction?"

"Ain't a man gotta right to be scared?! I gotta imagination as much as anyone!"

"But this ride..." Genji glanced around, "Is trash..."

"IT AIN'T" McCree his him, but swiftly regretted it as his knuckles wrapped against Genji's hard metal armour.

"All right!" Genji soothed, "Alright I'll turn it off."

He two sat silently as the cart took them in to teh next room, which was full of dummies in huge glass conicals, floating up and down.

"This gives me the jitters right..."

"Oh." Genji tried to sound like he was agreeing, "Of course."

Suddenly all the lights flickered off.

"What the..."

As the lights snapped back on the dummies were gone.

"THEY'RE GONNA GET US GENJI THEY REALLY ARE!"

"Ok..." Genji looked around.

"HOW CAN YA BE THIS CALM?!"

"I can't calm you down because I didn't see what happened to them! I turned my vision off!"

"WHY CAN'T YA BE SCARED WITH ME?!"

"Because Zenyatta taught me that fear is a weakness!"

There was silence.

"That damned tin caaAAAAAAn!" The lights whirled as thousands of dummies loomed over them from the ceiling as McCree screamed horrendously at the sight.

The cart brought them out in to the falling daylight.

"You just wanted to go to the theme park didn't you?" Genji hopped out the cart and looked at his companion.

"You're the only one..." He caught his breath, "I thought might get scared with me..."

"Oh." Genji sighed, "fancy a hot dog?"

"Yeah..." McCree about fell out, "I guess I do."

The two wandered in to the fairground together, as McCree tried not to think about just how Genji would eat a hot dog with that mask on.


	2. Beneath the Surface (Rein & Symettra)

The bunker smelt of gunpowder, poorly stored food, and... Symmetra wrinkled her perfect nose in disdain and levelled a glare at Junkrat. Predictably he completely failed to notice, scuttling about his little bolthole giggling and snuffling to himself until he suddenly leapt up, triumphant.

'Found it!' he cried ecstatically. Instantly everyone else hissed silence at him. Junkrat's happiness collapsed, and he wilted under three glares. 'Found it!' he whispered unnecessarily, and grinned again. 'Right! You just set up your little...' he wiggled his fingers at Symmetra dubiously 'shooty things...and wait for the BOOM!' his stage whisper turned into a joyous shout for the last word.

'Can you not be silent?' hissed Symmetra.

Junkrat held his new bomb up to the flickering lightbulb dreamily. 'Course. I'm not silent a lot.'

'What should I do?' whispered Reinhardt earnestly, settling his giant axe across sore knees as he settled slowly against the wall. He winced as various awkward corners cramped his huge frame. 'Junkrat?'

Junkrat, poised for action, turned and stared at Reinhardt like a man who had never noticed him before. 'Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmm...just wait!' he said, flashed a manic smile and disappeared up the tunnel. Roadhog sighed gutturally and lumbered after him.

Symmetra looked at the bunker in disgust. She was sure _things_ were living in this rat's nest of discarded...clothing? Whatever all this was. She shuddered.

'That creature is well named.' she remarked flatly, taking out her tools. With swift efficiency she began attaching a turret to the roof of the entryway.

Reinhardt watched her, trying to stretch out his legs in the cramped space. 'How long do you think they will be?' he said thoughtfully.

'That depends on whether they become distracted.' Symmetra answered darkly, moving to the door hinges with a second turret. ' I consider them unreliable.'

Reinhardt gave a little conciliatory chuckle. 'Ah, they'll do a good job.' Carefully he reached down and took off one armoured shoe, grunting at his stiff muscles, and gave a little sigh of relief at the freedom. He sensed rather than saw Symmetra turn a slow dark regard on his exposed foot, and paused halfway to removing the other one. He offered a little hopeful smile.

'Sore feet, 'he explained. Ah well, he reasoned, dropping the second shoe. She was already annoyed. He began massaging his feet vigorously.

Symmetra turned pointedly to her next turret. He was pretty sure she muttered, 'how unsightly' under her breath though. Reinhardt rubbed his feet absently. 'It's a wonder how old one becomes', he mused. 'When I was a young man...'

'Must we reminisce? We are on a mission.' Symmetra turned tartly to her next turret, just above the light, scowling at the flicker in her eyes.

He paused, watching her work thoughtfully. For a moment he was torn between putting a shoe back on and actually removing his socks, but Symmetra's aura was a tiny bit unsettling. With a sigh he began easing one boot back on, gritting his teeth against the ache of his feet.

'You remind me of someone I used to know,' Reinhardt said conversationally. 'You grew up in India yes? When I was in India', he began again, choosing not to notice her frosty glance, 'Ah, that was in my youth. I was glorious then. Life was glorious'.

'That must have been before my time', she replied in a tone intended to deter. 'I never found India glorious'.

Reinhardt however was determined to chat. 'It was before the war, you understand. Ah, I was in my prime, training with the heavy weapons' division of the Seventh Raj. We would put on displays for the common people.' He smiled hugely at the vision of his memory. 'I had quite a following, I can tell you.'

'Do not feel you have to'.

'What part of India are you from? I travelled most of the Raj in my term there, four years in the heat of that wonderful land. From Mumbai to Kolkata...'

'I grew up in Mumbai, for what it is worth'. She turned from her work to level a glare at him. 'It was not wonderful. It was not glorious. You are deluded'.

He looked puzzlement back at her. '...Was it the war...?'

'Before the war, even before the war, because of you and your Seventh Raj. You oppressed the common people. I grew up hungry'. Her lip curled. 'It was dirty'. She shuddered.

'I never oppressed a soul,' Reinhardt said, genuinely hurt. He pulled on his other boot. 'I did not realize you grew up...unhappy'.

Symmetra hesitated, then turned back to her work. 'It is of no importance'.

Reinhardt stood, hefting the great axe in his hands. His memories hadn't done with him yet, and he began smiling mistily again. 'I knew a woman in Mumbai', he said dreamily. 'She...'

'Please, spare me the unpleasant details of your affairs', she interrupted curtly. She looked up at her work critically before putting her tools back in her belt. 'There. Our defences are aligned.'

'That's nice...' Reinhardt said awkwardly. Symmetra fell into her uncanny waiting stillness, and he shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. He hated silences.

For a moment he thought there were sounds off down the tunnel, but dismissed them when Symmetra made no sign. He did suffer a lot from tinnitus. And Junkrat had distinctly told them to wait for the boom.

He looked down at his axe again, wondering how to break the silence in a good way... 'What's your real name?' he hazarded at last. She shot him a look of shocked suspicion; he tried to raise his hands in apology but they had an axe in them... 'Only, Symmetra, that's not a real name, is it? Not an Indian name, I mean, I...'

She looked hard at him for a long time, then shrugged uncomfortably. 'My name was Satya. It means 'truthful'. Is that important to you?'

Reinhardt, confounded, muttered something about it being a pretty name, looking at his feet. After a short pause, he added, 'If I had had a daughter, I wanted to call her Katya. That's quite similar. I think'.

' I see,' she replied coldly.

Reinhardt found himself really wishing Junkrat and Roadhog would come back, an entirely new feeling he had never experienced before. He wiped a little sweat off his brow and leaned on the wall, trying not to whistle.

Symmetra stood staring at the turrets she had installed.

'There is an advantage to this plan,' she remarked, as if talking to herself. 'When triggered, the turrets will burn this nasty little room clean.' She straightened, and stood by the exit. 'I am looking forward to it.'

She moved to the tunnel back up to the surface and stared into its darkness. 'Untidy, disordered places are best burned clean, Reinhardt. I include your memory in this. '

He looked at her straight back, mortified. 'Sorry...' he mumbled.

'If it was any part of your intention to enquire the name of my mother, please do not tell me. Make no attempt to connect our histories simply because they are sordid, and in India'.

Reinhardt blushed violently. 'I wasn't-'

'We will not speak of these things again,' Symmetra concluded curtly. 'Now.' She turned, cocking an ear toward the surface. 'I believe it is time.'

A distant rumble echoed down toward them, and Reinhardt lumbered hurriedly to his feet.

'Boom!' he said urgently.

'Precisely,' Symmetra replied.

'What a relief,' they both murmured.


End file.
